GREECE BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS -(1919-1939)

GREECE BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS -(1919-1939)

The Greek-Turkish War (1919-1922)

With its territorial gains during the Balkan Wars and the First World War, Greece seemed to be slowly realizing its Byzantine ambitions of creating a Greater Greece and there was nothing left but to take the Byzantine throne, which had remained vacant since 1453.

Unfortunately for Greece that was not going to happen. On November 25, 1920, king Alexander died and Venizelos, the entente favourite, was defeated in the 1920 parliamentary elections. The new Greek government, to the Entente’s great dissatisfaction, returned king Constantine XII to the throne by plebiscite. At the same time Turkey did not accept the Sevres agreement that the Sultan had signed. A Grand National Assembly was convened on April 23, 1920 and the First National Turkish Government was formed in May 1920, which rejected the Sevres Agreement as unacceptable. A strong national liberation movement was also started in Turkey and was led by Kemal Mustafa-Ataturk, the hero of Gallipoli.

With a desire to force Turkey to accept the Sevres Agreement, the Entente forces advised Greece to impose it on them. Being obsessed with creating a Greater Greece, Venizelos sent the first Greek military units to Asia Minor in 1919 with the blessing of the Entente powers. But with Venizelos’s defeat in the 1920 Greek parliamentary elections, as well as king Constantine’s return to the Greek throne, Greece lost the benevolence of the Entente powers. The king and the Greek government, however, decided to continue with the military operation in Asia Minor. One of the reasons was to surpass Venizelos’s accomplishments as the founder of Greater Greece in favour of king Constantine. It was not by chance that the Greek king got the name Constantine XII, i.e. successor to the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI, who died in battle in 1453 while defending Constantinople from the Ottomans.

Initially, the Greek armies, being welcomed by the local Greek (Christian) population, managed to enter deep into Asia Minor. But in 1921 an epic battle between the Turkish and Greek armies took place near the Sakaria River where the Greek army was decimated. Heavily defeated the Greeks began a chaotic retreat. Izmir (Smyrna) was set on fire and the Greek (Christian) population together with the Greek army ran to Greece in panic.

Defeated, Greece concluded a truce in Mudania (October 1922) and began peace negotiations in Lausanne (Switzerland, 1923). With this peace treaty, Greece was forced to give Turkey back the city Izmir (Smyrna) and its surroundings, Eastern Thrace and the islands Imbros and Tenedos. After the Lausanne Peace Treaty was signed Greece’s territory was reduced from 150,833 km² (with 5,581,474 inhabitants) to 129,880 km². Its population, however, grew to 6,204,684 due to migration movements. The Treaty of Lausanne also envisioned the compulsory eviction of Christians from Turkey and Muslims from Greece. “We prefer to endure 30% or 50% damages,” said a Turkish representative in Lausanne, “than to have strangers and enemies living among us…”

The Treaty of Lausanne has historical significance. With this Treaty began the first revision of the Paris Peace Treaties which put an end to Greek ambitions for the restoration of the Byzantine Empire.

Political life in Greece after the Asia Minor catastrophe

The Asia Minor disaster caused great political instability in Greece. There was a big swing in passion between Venizelos’s supporters and his adversaries. After the Asia Minor fiasco a number of Greek officers, led by Nikolas Plastiras, Silianos Gonatas and Alexandros Hadzhikiriakos, called for a “revolt” in the islands Chios and Mitilini to save their homeland. With the help of the military, the three took power and forced king Constantine to abdicate in favour of his son Georgios II. At the same time, six members of the government, charged with the national disaster in Asia Minor, were convicted and executed. They were Petros Protopapadakis, first minister, G. Hatsianestis, chief commander of the Greek army, G. Gunaris and three other ministers. After the Asian Minor catastrophe anti-monarchic feelings in Greece intensified. Prior to the Greek national holiday on March 24, 1924, Alexandros Papanastasiou,

leader of the “Democratic Union” and his government proclaimed Greece a Republic.

Greek governments, which often changed, faced a serious problem: colonizing the refugees exiled from Turkey under the Lausanne Peace Treaty. In total 1,159,311 refugees arrived in Greece. They originated from Asia (353,652), Europe (263,481), America (567), Africa (486) and Oceania (3). All Greek parties advocated the successful colonization of these refugees, especially Venizelos’s Liberal Party. In this regard Venizelos came to be known as the father of the refugees. The Greek bank made its first deal with foreign creditors from England and the United States in December 1924, allowing Greece to receive 12.3 million lira sterling with an interest rate of 7%, which was quite high for Greece’s financial circumstances. A Main Directorate for Colonization (EAP) was formed to carry out the settling of refugees.

The vast majority of the colonists were settled as follows: Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia (565,143 or 48.75%), Central Greece and Eubea (317,188 or 27.36%), Western Thrace (100,485 or 8.6%), Aegean islands (51,550 or 4.45%), Thessaly (36,427 or 3.14%), Peloponnesus (32,411 or 2.84%), Crete (32,411 or 2.98%), Cyprus (10,348 or 0.98%), Cyclades (6,697 or 0.53%), and the Ionian Islands (6,189 or 0.53%). The refugees were colonized at the expense of the indigenous population, which created problems for the indigenous Macedonian population in Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia.

Greek foreign Policy

The Greek Republican governments in power between the two world wars sought to preserve the Balkan status quo created by the Bucharest and Paris peace agreements. Relations between Bulgaria and Greece became stormier. With the Bucharest and Neuilly Peace Agreements, Bulgaria lost Southern Dobrudzha, Thrace, and its Western Provinces. Bulgaria considered Macedonia to belong to the Bulgarian ethnic space resulting in the Bulgarian kingdom pursuing changes to the Bucharest and Neuilly Peace Agreements. Contact between Greece and Bulgaria was done under these political circumstances. On September 29, 1924, the Calfov-Politis Protocol

was signed by the foreign ministers of Bulgaria and Greece in Geneva by which the Greek side recognized the Slavic population in Aegean Macedonia as a Bulgarian minority. The “Calfov-Politis” protocol seriously affected Greek-Serbian relations. The Kingdom of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia demanded that the Slavic population in Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia be recognized as Serbian. As a result Serbia cancelled the Treaty of Friendship it had signed with Greece in 1913.

The political rivalries between the Liberal Party (Venizelos’s supporters) and the People’s Party (Venizelos’s detractors), attempts to assassinate Venizelos, as well as the difficult economic situation in the country, were used by General Theodoros Pangalos as an opportunity to take power in the country (1925). His dictatorial rule unfortunately created more failures than success. Included among the accomplishments the Pangalos dictatorship achieved was a diplomatic deal with the Kingdom of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. On August 17, 1926, General Pangalos concluded a favourable agreement with the government of the Kingdom of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia where a free zone was opened in Solun and along the Solun-Gevgelia railway line. At the same time Pangalos recognized the Macedonian population in Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia as a Serbian minority. His rule was also memorable for his infamous Petrich military adventure. After a small incident at the Greek-Bulgarian border in 1925, the Greek army invaded Bulgarian territory which was then quickly repelled by a small number of Bulgarian soldiers helped by a number of IMRO units. After this incident, Greece was forced to pay Bulgaria damages. Pangalos’s agreement with the Kingdom of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, as well as his Petrich military adventure were some of the main reasons for his removal from power. Pangalos’s unsuccessful attempt to lead Greece contributed to the country’s set back which caused another military intervention. In 1926, General Kondilis abolished Pangalos’s government and took power. The only political stability that Greece experienced, and that was for a short time, was during Venizelos’s rule (1928-1932). Venizelos’s government implemented reforms in the legal system, economy and education. New primary and secondary schools were built and the so-called “Demotic Greek” language was introduced in high schools. But even the capable Venizelos did not anticipate the big, looming economic crisis. In

1929 the great economic crisis struck worldwide and negatively affected the Greek economy and very much influenced Venizelos’s popularity.

Venizelos’s government, however, had much more success in conducting foreign policy. Relations with Italy had always been strained, especially after General Teleni’s assassination, which the Greek government sought to normalize. On September 23, 1928, a friendship agreement was signed with Italy. Then, on March 27, 1929, a Greek-Yugoslav agreement was signed and on October 30, 1930, a Turkish-Greek Agreement “On Friendship, Neutrality and Arbitration” was signed. In 1929, with the Molov-Kafandaris Agreement, property and legal issues that existed between Greece and Bulgaria, after the “great migration movements” (forceful expulsions of Macedonians from Greece) took place, were solved. On February 9, 1934, representatives from Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania and Turkey met in Athens and created the Balkan Entente directed against Bulgaria. Then, on July 31, 1938, the Balkan Entente and Bulgaria signed an agreement by which both parties abandoned the use of military force in their mutual dealings.

Once again political instability in Greece became the norm and reached worrying proportions. Political passions between Venizelos’s supporters and his detractors began to escalate. The People’s Party won the parliamentary elections in 1933. This party was supported by Kondilis, Metaxas and Hatsikiriakos’s small political parties. Venizelos however was not happy with the outcome and refused to accept defeat. So in order to save the country from “chaos”, General Plastiras attempted a coup, but failed. Supported by Kondilis and Metaxas, Tsaldaris’s government led the country to a “state of emergency”. Some of the people who led the coup were arrested and sentenced to death and some fled to Bulgaria. Venizelos, suspected of being the chief initiator of the coup, was sentenced to death and forced to board the ship “Averov” and flee to the island Cassos, which at the time was under Italian rule.

After the failed coup attempt parliamentary elections were scheduled for June 9, 1935. The People’s Party won and Kondilis formed the new government. Being pro-monarchic this government conducted a

plebiscite for the return of the monarchy to Greece. During the plebiscite 97.80% of the people voted for king Gergios II’s return to the Greek throne (December 25, 1935). After his coronation the king declared a general amnesty and formed an Interim Government headed by K. Demerdzhis, a professor from the University of Athens. The new government scheduled elections for January 26, 1936.

After the failed coup of March 1935, the Liberal Party did not weaken to the extent that the People’s Party was hoping. The parliamentary elections in January 1936 confirmed this. Political debates between the Liberal and the People’s Party, as well as the noisy propaganda during the elections, did not influence the people to massively vote for either of the main ruling parties. The Liberal Party received 574,655 votes and sent 142 MPs to the new Greek parliament. The small conservative parties, on the other hand, which circled around the People’s Party, did not receive the desired votes. The conservative forces won 602,840 votes and sent 143 MPs to the new Greek parliament. The Popular Front, headed by the CPG, united the left-wing forces however and received 73,411 voters and sent 15 new MPs to the Greek parliament. After the parliamentary elections, neither the Liberal nor the People’s Party had an absolute majority and were unable to form a government. So, under the circumstances, the 15 MPs from the Popular Front held the balance of power. If until now the Greek parties refused to work with the CPG due to its support of a “United and Independent Macedonia”, after the 1936 elections both the Liberal and the People’s Party took steps to negotiate forming a new government with CPG support. There was however one catch. The CPG had to reject the idea of supporting a “United and Independent Macedonia”. Headed by M. Porphirogenis, a number of Popular Front representatives personally visited the Greek king Georgios II and assured him that the CPG did not seek autonomy for Macedonia. After that all Greek parties encouraged (demanded) that the CPG dissociate itself from forming policies regarding the Macedonian question. After that K. Angelopoulos, representing the People’s Party, established contact with representatives of the Left, headed by D. Glinos, G. Shantos and M. Porphirogenis, to negotiate forming the next government. At the same time Liberal party representatives established contact with S. Sklavenas, representative of the Popular Front, to discuss the

same. These political negotiations yielded the famous agreement between T. Soufoulis, representative of the Liberal Party, and S. Sklavenas, representative of the Popular Front.

The Soufoulis-Sklavenas Agreement was signed exactly when Greek society was experiencing strong elements of economic and political instability. Mass economic and political dissatisfaction was expressed during the great Solun demonstrations. Other demonstrations also took place in Kukush, Seres, Drama, etc., and culminated on May 8, 1936, with the Solun mass demonstrations of about 15,000 tobacco workers. In protest of the bloody suppression of the May 8, 1936 demonstrations in Solun, another 150,000 demonstrators took part in a protest rally in Freedom Square in Solun. Due to the brutal conduct of the police, as well as the killing of ten workers during the Solun mass demonstrations, more rallies and demonstrations were held all over Greece to demonstrate solidarity with the Solun workers. At the same time Popular Front representatives in the Greek parliament demanded that General Ioanis Metaxas, the main culprit for the bloody suppression in Solun, resign. On July 24, 1936, the two largest Greek trade unions, the Confederation of Workers of Greece and the United General Conference of Workers, decided to organize a general strike all throughout Greece in protest against repressive government policies.

Ioanis Metaxas’s dictatorship (1936-1941)

The political instability that swept Greece seriously worried the Greek politicians who saw a solution in the introduction of an authoritarian regime. With the benevolence of the royal court, General Ioanis Metaxas, whose dictatorial affinities were long known, maximally exploited this historical moment. The path to the introduction of this personal dictatorship was facilitated by the disappearance from the political scene of famous Greek political figures such as Elefteros Venizelos and his first Minister, D. K. Demerdzhis. The loss of these two political figures, especially D. K. Demerdzhis’s death, were “gifts from God” for Metaxas’s dictatorial intentions. With the king’s approval the political vacuum was filled by the old and ambitious General Metaxas. On August 4, 1936, Metaxas introduced his dictatorship just two days before the general strike. He suspended the constitution, dissolved parliament, banned

party political activities, and imposed strict censorship. The entire power base was passed on to him and he declared himself supreme leader.

Metaxas began the “Third Greek Civilization”, following the “Ancient” and “Byzantine” civilizations with the prohibition of the works of Greek giants the likes of Sophocles, Aristotle, Euripides, and Tukidit. The Greek National Security Service, headed by K. Maniadakis, began to implement harsh policies of repression against political opponents and against the Communists in particular. Almost 50,000 people were sent to prison and the desolate Greek islands. At the same time, with a desire to indoctrinate the youth, Metaxas established the “National Youth Organization” (EON), which was compulsory for all young people.

Metaxas’s government maintained a pro-Western oriented foreign policy. Metaxas led an apparently neutral policy after the Munich Treaty (1938) was signed and after France capitulated (May-June 1940) but then approached Britain which provided him guarantees for Greece’s territorial integrity.